A collection of short stories by Ivan Raley

What a Weekend
The celebration of our nation’s birthday was wonderful this weekend. Byrdstown may be small but there was nothing small about their celebration. In attending the events of the fourth for some 13 years now I have never seen so many people downtown, it was full, it ran over. The parking lot behind FBC was running over with cars and people filled the drives on both sides and all across the front lawn as we gather to listen to the Army band and watch the fireworks; maybe not as long as those in Nashville, but closer, more personal, and joyful. The people all around me shared joy and excitement and a really great big thank you to those who made it all possible.
The celebration started for Max, my 100 pound German Sheppard and I on Thursday night; Carole had to be out of town for the weekend for a back to the past family trip with her sister, so Max and I went to B and K’s and purchased a 14 oz steak, thick, juicy, it was going to be good. We knew you were suppose to marinate it but did not know what in, so we put some steak sauce, A1, catsup, spices out of the cabinet, seven up and a few other things together and put the steak in to sit all night. Now Max wanted to eat it cold and uncooked, but I said no, so he pouted a bit, kept his eye on the refrigerator and watched through the night to make sure I didn’t eat it without him.
About noon Friday I went to the Dixie, got a bowl of fruit and a salad, and came home lit the fire on the grill and waited until all was ready. I put the steak on and left it for about six minutes on each side, wow it smelled wonderful, the birds came out, Max got excited and I got me a plate and Max a paper plate, I put the steak on my plate, fixed the salad and fruit bowl; Max stood for the pledge of allegiance and bowed his head for the prayer of thanksgiving, then I shared some steak with him and we had a great time. Each bite was better than the first. After cleaning up we each took a 15 minute nap, me on the couch, Max on the floor beside the couch, our dreams were wonderful and our rest was great. We got up refreshed, did some clothes washing, Max chased some cats, took a walk and I headed for downtown for the celebration and Max stayed to guard the house. It was a glorious day, God bless America and God bless Byrdstown.
Ivan